I just saw a news article about a woman in labor driving herself to the hospital. She was ticketed for speeding, but incredibly, the cop didn’t buy her story. She had to provide him with proof of her pregnancy!

In all fairness to the cop, I suppose he’s seen and heard just about everything. I assume that there are people who lie about labor and pregnancy just to get off without a ticket. I feel so sad for this woman because, I’ve driven myself to the hospital while in labor. It isn’t easy to do.

This brings up a good point which isn’t normally a topic of conversation–just how are you getting to the hospital? Perhaps your spouse is in the military and is deployed and you are “alone”. Perhaps you are a single mom without any family support. I knew of one woman who planned to take the bus to the hospital as she had no car and lived a long way away from her family. Taking the bus isn’t the best strategy.

I know of military families who have a relative come to stay with them during the last few weeks of the pregnancy to be available for the inevitable. I know of women who have asked their neighbors to take them to the hospital and I also know of women who have taken a taxi when “the time” arrived.

I can honestly say that driving while in labor was a scary and very dangerous thing for me to do. Can you imagine being pregnant and getting into a car accident on the way to the hospital? At the time, I just didn’t feel I had a lot of options though and wasn’t thinking very clearly. I’d made arrangements for a relative to take me to the hospital and when I ended up going into labor very early on a holiday no less, the person wasn’t available. Some folks asked me why I didn’t just call an ambulance, but I was worried about co-pays and insurance deductibles. How could I pay $500 for the ambulance ride?

If I had to do it again, I’d have prepared for labor a  little better. I’d make sure to have several back up plans and if those plans fell through, I’d call the amubulance and make payment arrangements on that $500 fee. I guess hindsight is always 20/20!

I read an interesting article today about multi-tasking when driving. The bottom line: it’s a bad idea. I’m sure you know that already though!

The study centered on how the brain is able to perform when a person is doing tasks such as driving and talking on the cell phone. Driving, it turns out, requires an incredible amount of brain power. I remember when I was first learning to drive and I couldn’t stand to have the radio on because it distracted me so. Now I drive past very young looking, possibly new drivers, texting and talking on their cell phones. I find it amazing, if not scary.

According to data, in over 80% of crashes, driver inattention was the root cause of the event. That’s pretty amazing. I rarely talk on my cell phone when driving. If it’s a difficult or intense conversation, I do pull over to the side of the road or I stop in a parking lot. However, I am not so good about reducing my other distractions.

Ask any parent and it is common to be multi-tasking dealing with kid issues. Things like stopping an argument between siblings or dealing with a crying infant are stressful and can affect the quality of your driving. The reality of the situation is that as a parent, you will need to multi-task at times. Just remember to be safe.

If the older children are arguing about the radio station, turn it off. If your infant is crying inconsolably and the tension is affecting your driving, pull over to a safe place and do what needs to be done to soothe him. This may mean changing that diaper or nursing him so you can make the rest of the journey safely. Never try to drive and say, pick up the dropped security blanket or pacifier!

I keep an activity bag in the back of the car for my older children to keep them busy during drives. I find that if they are busy, they are less likely to argue amongst themselves. I also keep some toys for our son in the car so that if he gets fussy, the older children can pacify him until either I can get to a safe spot to figure out what is wrong or we make it to our destination.

To my knowledge, no studies have ever been done on the amount of accidents caused when dad or mom takes their eyes off the road to give their toddler a cookie because he is hungry and screaming. It would be interesting though!

Do you have any tips for dealing with family distractions when you are driving? Do you feel that it’s important to limit your distractions or do you think you do a pretty good job of handling things as they happen?

Earlier this week, a woman was arrested for driving a car with a three year old on the roof. The woman in question was the child’s grandmother, and when confronted by police, argued that she was driving very slowly, in a parking lot, and that the girl was completely safe because she was also holding on to her leg.

Of course, using that logic, car seats are no longer necessary, since a parent or guardian’s hand on their leg is enough to keep a child from bodily harm.

I could not believe the story when I read it. Initially, I thought that the grandmother had placed the child on the car while loading it (a debatable practice itself, but one I could halfway understand) and then started the vehicle in motion before realizing the little girl was not secured inside her car seat. When I realized that this was not the case, and that the girl was being taken for some bizarre form of toddler joy ride, I was mortified. To say that the woman’s actions lacked good judgment is an understatement. What she did was just plain stupid.

What do you think about this story?

Just released from the American Academy of Pediatrics: travel tips for little kids. All I can say is: THANK YOU!!!!!!!

I suppose if my family bopped in and out of airports every other month, I might figure out some of these on my own. But we don’t travel very much so I’m not a seasoned pro. That makes the trips we DO take so much more meaningful, and in some ways, it raises the stakes. When we take one trip every other year we want it to be good.

The following ideas were compiled by the AAP from their own literature as well as the Transportation Security Administration, Federal Aviation Administration and the Centers for Disease Control.

A few of my favorites are summarized below. Happy Trails to You!

Driving

- Of course, follow all car seat laws. Better yet, follow all of the suggestions (which are more stringent). That means:

• facing year until one year AND 20 pounds.
• in a belt-positioning booster until 4′9′ in height.
• in the back seat until age 13.
• Plan to stop every two hours (This one is difficult for me. I get so impatient?)
• Bring lots of toys and CDs and snacks for the trip.

Flying

• It takes longer to go through security with children. Leave early, and make sure the kids know someone will be handling their things.
• Let older kids know that it’s not a funny joke to say, ‘My dad has a bomb in his bag.’
• Buy your child under 2 his own ticket and strap him into his carseat. You’ll both be happier.
• For once, you can let the kids blow bubbles through the straw-it helps pop their ears.

Going overseas

• Make sure everyone’s vaccines are up-to-date.
• Start adjusting for jet lag a few days before you leave.

We have all the gadgets to keep our kids safe in the car ? the car seats, the seatbelts, the child-proof lock on the door, the child-proof windows. But how about locking your car doors from the inside while driving?

A friend who comes from South America makes it a point to lock her car doors while driving. I know that in many parts of Asia (usually in big cities) where I come from, locking car doors from the inside is a must. After all, it only takes a couple of seconds for somebody to open the door and grab your purse from the front seat or empty your trunk – while you are stopping at a red light and standing in a traffic jam. Much worse, anybody can just grab your sleeping child at the back seat before you can even get out from behind the wheel.

I learned driving in Belgium and Germany and we now live in Switzerland. These are three countries I know (there may be others) where locking your car from the inside is not a normal practice. In fact, it is pretty much discouraged because in cases of accidents, nobody can open the door to help you or your child.

Where we live now, I feel comfortable driving with unlocked doors that can be opened from the outside. I don`t really feel any threat to myself or to my kids. I wouldn`t know how I`d feel though if I`m driving in a strange city in dense traffic.

So what`s the common practice in your part of the world?

Can car companies perhaps put in a special feature in future cars – car doors that lock automatically when you stop and unlock when you drive off again? Or does this feature already exist but I`m simply not aware of it?